Sunday, January 13, 2008

The real Tehalka

I know this is a bit old (what can I say, I'm a lazy blogger), but is very interesting nevertheless We all know how Tehalka loves to cause well...you know...Tehalka. In it's attempt to discount the work done by the NarendraModi government in Gujarat, it carried out the ill fated sting operation. And some of it's journalists had some interesting views. But, they are not exactly right as pointed out nicely by The Acorn at INI (a site I recommend you visit).

ShivamVij at Tehakla would like you to believe that Gujarat is not fair in reporting poverty in the state. Read The Acorn's fair post here, that brings out the truth.

Shivam alleges that the public health situation in Gujarat is deteriorating. The Acorn points out how Tehalkachooses to present data when the situation is not as bad as presented.

Another claim made was the widening rural-urban divide. Read this to know how imagination works at Tehalka.

The turnaround in the power sector is worth studying & emulating across the country. But if you believe Shivam, the opposite is true. The 900 MW power shortage reported in April was as a result of some temporary technical glitch.

On April 7th this year, the Indian Expressreported: “A day after state was hit by severe power crisis with 900 MW power supply falling short after few power generating units at different plants failed to operate at full capacity level owing to technical problems, GUVNL authorities on Sunday refused to come out clear on the issue…It is noted that on Saturday, around 900 MW power shortages was reported when power generation units at Akrimota project, Vanakbori, Gandhinagar and Ukai power plants developed technical problems”.

Modi was indeed talking of real development & issues that affected people. I thought that journalists were supposed to be fair & objective. But those characters are largely missing in today's mainstream media.

For a full summary of all the above links, that debunk Tehalka's claims, click here for a PDF version of The Acorn's full post.